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Last Updated on January 20, 2024 by Work In My Pajamas
One of the benefit of being a work-at-home professional is the flexibility to go to your son’s school awards program or to spend a beautiful morning soaking up sun at your local park. One of the downsides is that you often will have work that needs to be done at the same as the awards assembly or park play day. The easiest solution is to create a portable office with everything you will need to work in easy-to-carry bags and cases.
Protected Laptop
Most people who work from home use their computers in some capacity for work. Invest in a quality laptop bag. If you get a useful bag, it can serve as the cornerstone of your portable office. When looking for a laptop bag, select one with a spot for pens, a cell phone, and other goodies that you need while working. Also spring for a neoprene case for your laptop to help protect your most valuable business asset from errant Frisbees and curious toddlers.
Sorted Basic Supplies
Paper clips, sticky notes, and writing implements are the basic office supplies for the portable office. Most people can purchase a single divided holder with clasped lid that will fit all of these items. While it may seem unlikely that you will need these items while you are out and about, having them available when you work on the go is a must if you want to stay organized. Keep these supplies in a “to go” case and just slip them in your bag before you head out.
Quality Portable Drink Container
Taking a coffee with you while the kids play at the park or having water to drink while you wait for soccer to end is a must. Purchasing drinks wherever you go is expensive, but izt also can be dangerous to your work. Spilled coffee or water bottle condensation can wreak havoc on laptop motherboards and important documents. Get a reliable portable mug that holds hot and cold beverages and be sure to fill it before you head out to work.
Condensed Reference Materials
Mortgage brokers may need amortization schedules. Writers need grammar guides. Programmers may need coding tips and tricks. Invest in small guides to help with the most common questions that come up for you. For some work-at-home professionals, these guides may be single sheets laminated, but others may want small versions of their favorite reference books. To make life easier, keep these pocket guides in your laptop bag and get full-sized versions to use at home.
Smartphone
Doing research when there is no wi-fi connection available can be tricky. While smartphones are pricy, especially if you are in the middle of a 2-year contract, they allow you to surf the web using your data connection if there is research that cannot wait. A myriad of mobile apps, from mobile payment processors to work clocks for billing by the hour, will help to make your work life more portable.
Heather Green is a freelance writer for several regional magazines in North Carolina as well as a resident blogger for onlinenursingdegrees.org. Her writing experience includes fashion, business, health, agriculture and a wide range of other topics. Heather has just completed research on online nursing courses and rn programs online.
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